The Race
by Authenti
Summary: Halfway up a freezing mountain, a young human finds a Digimon unconscious in the snow. They're both running for their lives, but Sorcerymon's pride could be getting in the way of seeing what's really important.
1. Saving A Life

Amber was young, really. She didn't kid herself into believing she was anything more than, well… a kid. And yet, here she was, in an unbelievably dangerous predicament, with no one around to help her out of it. But she felt good. She felt _responsible._ For once, she felt like a leader, not a follower – not that she had a choice, of course.

She pulled her long, black coat more tightly around herself. It had a zip down the front, but she didn't like using zippers on coats. She preferred holding the coat closed manually. This one was lined with white faux-fur. It didn't have a hood, which she didn't care much about because hoods were useless when it was windy anyway.

The girl was also wearing a pair of light black boots, scuffed around the edges but warm and watertight; a pair of black gloves matched these, and she wore them now as well as a reflective ski-mask. An oversized black rucksack hung from her shoulders. Her straight hair was just about waist-length, and a 'dirty-blonde' colour. Finally, her eyes were a dull grey colour – nothing special. She hated it when people tried to tell her they were blue. It was so patronising.

The teen cursed as some snow forced itself down her back, and shuddered to get rid of it before it melted. It was such a mistake to come up here… she should have stayed further down the mountain, where it was safe and warm and…

No, because if she'd stayed there, the Dino Gang would have caught up with her, and she wouldn't be a very good fugitive if she allowed herself to get caught now, would she?

The ski-mask helped a lot. At least she could see what she was doing without having to blink every other second, and she figured that getting snow-blindness wouldn't be a very good option either. Still, seeing everything in near-fluorescent orange wasn't what she was used to.

These clothes were hers, but she still wasn't quite used to wearing them yet. Especially not the catsuit. That was going slightly over the top, in her opinion. But when she entered the Digital World, her pyjamas vanished, and she was wearing this imposing attire. She'd seen others wearing more flamboyant clothing, but she still didn't like this. Yet. Amber admitted it was sort of growing on her, the idea of being able to get away with such terrible fashion sense. In the real world, some stupid chav would go and pick her up on it right away.

She stopped for a second, scraping her wet hair off her ski-mask and peering ahead into the blizzard. There was a dark shape in the snow just up ahead.

No member of the Dino Gang was quite that shade of purple, as far as she remembered. Perhaps it was a disguise?

No. Amber didn't think so. It seemed unlikely that they'd be able to follow her this far up the mountain. It had to be something else. She ploughed ahead through the knee-height snow and eventually reached the thing after what seemed like an age.

A purple, humanoid Digimon was lying face down in the snow. It seemed to be wearing a red bandana around its neck and a pair of gloves to match, and it had a pointed tail and two tapering ears that bent over oddly on its head.

"Hello?" she tried, nervous about what the Digimon might do if she was in its territory or something. There was no answer, so she nudged it with a foot gently. It didn't move. "Er, hello, hello? Hello-o-o!" She raised her voice slightly. After a while, nothing happened, and her suspicions seemed to be confirmed. The creature had passed out for whatever reason – presumably from the cold, or exhaustion, or both – and… what if it was in some kind of coma? Could that happen to Digimon?

The girl gently placed a hand on the creature's shoulder and flipped it over slowly, carefully brushing the snow off its front. Its face was pale white, and it had an odd, vaguely mean-looking smiley face on its torso. Its eyes were closed, however, and its jaws were slack. Amber knew that Digimon turned into clouds of data when they were dead, however, and therefore this one was still alive by that logic.

Amber felt a pang of urgency. Maybe this thing could help her, if she helped it first. Decision time! She assessed the situation in her head.

Help the Digimon: risk being attacked by it when it recovered, or possibly gain an ally, or maybe just do a good deed for the day.

Leave the Digimon: no consequences other than possibly passing up a good opportunity.

Amber swore again, and after a few moments, gathered up the small Digimon carefully into the crook of one arm and tucked her cloak over it. She then straightened up and found the mountain's steep cliff face that she knew ran all around the peak, and began piling up snow, using the cliff as a back wall.

After what seemed like hours but was in fact only about fifty minutes, she'd managed to put together a makeshift snow-fort with a roof. It provided some kind of reasonable shelter, and resembled a battered igloo, with a short tunnel for an entrance and a slightly higher ceiling inside the main area. The fort had just enough room to fit her and the strange Digimon inside, and she promptly crawled through to sit with her back against the entrance, blocking the wind from entering.

Here the young girl stayed, willing herself to stay awake, sharing body heat with the unconscious purple Digimon now lying comfortably in her lap.


	2. The Storm Subsides

Amber's eyes slowly wedged themselves open. The bluish light filtering through the snow was painful, and she crunched her eyelids shut again for a few moments while she adjusted, then finally managed to wake herself up enough to become aware that a pair of icy-blue eyes were staring at her reproachfully from under a wide-brimmed white hat.

This thought took a moment to register in her mind, and then she was sitting bolt upright, instinctively pinning herself against the wall. A gap behind her made her confused – where was she…?

Oh, right. The snow cave. That odd Digimon she had rescued… It had digivolved. It must have. What was sitting against the opposite wall of the cave was different entirely, but she had been in front of the entrance all this time, so it must be the same one.

"Hello," she offered, wavering slightly. The Digimon made a 'hmmph' noise and looked away.

It looked like the typical image of a white mage – a cape, more than a little frayed around the edges, and a pointed hat with a wide brim, a black band around the base. He had his cape wrapped around him, but in one gloved hand he clutched a sceptre with a snowflake-shape on the end. His blue eyes were almost hidden under strands of blonde hair and the shadows from his hat and collar, but their effect was still profoundly piercing.

"Are you feeling better?" The Digimon didn't answer, and she stayed silent for a while. She understood he was probably mistrustful. "You must be," she mused after a few minutes, "or you'd still be purple."

"My condition is of no concern to you." His voice was quiet and level, making his emotions and thoughts completely unreadable.

"…You were face-down in the snowstorm. You think I should have left you there?"

"Just let me leave. You're blocking the exit."

The Digimon still didn't seem to want to make eye contact after that first time when she woke up. Amber didn't mind. She didn't like looking people in the eyes anyway; it made her feel like she was under a spotlight. She shifted slightly, but didn't move out of the way.

"Are you sure you're alright to leave already?"

"Digimon heal fast. Your concern is unnecessary."

"Well, okay, then. I don't want to keep you here against your will." The girl leaned backwards and pulled herself out of the snow-cave headfirst, managing it in one fluid motion. A blast of cold air swept into the gap she'd left, making her shiver involuntarily. "Erf… Bloody freezing out here." She stood up and stamped her feet to wake herself up and to shake off the cold, rubbing her arms with her hands.

The cloaked Digimon appeared a moment later, straightening up slowly from a kneeling position. His movements were stiff and shaky, but he looked pretty determined.

"Not to intrude on your personal matters, but what are you doing up here?"

"That is not your business," he snapped. "You would do well not to follow me- erk…" The Digimon crumpled slightly, jabbing his staff into the snow to support himself. His arms were trembling with the effort of keeping himself steady, and Amber was having second thoughts.

"Maybe you should have stayed where you were."

"I'm fine," he growled, and took a step forwards in the direction he was facing. "I just… have to reach the peak."

"That's too far. You should take a rest."

"You know nothing of my limitations, human. Do not interfere."

"I can help you, if you want. I don't have anything else to do up here. I just need to stay in the snowy areas for a while, so I can do what I want while I'm here." She decided to leave out the part about being followed by a band of rogue Digimon. It would just make him more suspicious. "Did you hear me?" The Digimon kept ignoring her and made its way slowly away through the snow.

Amber followed him after a minute or so. She doubted that he would last long on his own. She made a lot of noise as she walked, making sure he knew she was there, but didn't say anything.

Predictably, the humanoid Digimon almost collapsed after half an hour. She darted forwards to catch his arm as his knees gave way beneath him.

"Leave me."

"No, because if I do, you'll just end up fainting again. I don't mean to be crude, but it's not exactly hard to admit you need help."

"Helping me will do more harm than good," he muttered irritably, but hadn't the strength to push her away this time. The girl moved his arm over her shoulder and supported his weight that way.

"I don't see how. My name is Amber, by the way."

There was a long pause. Then…

"Sorcerymon."

"Good to meet you," she smiled. "I suppose I should be clear to you right from the start. I'm on the run, or perhaps I should say hiding up here, from the Dino Gang. They thought I was Digidestined and tried to destroy my digivice, only… I don't have one. They thought I was lying and started chasing me, so I managed to get all the way up here. Trouble is, now I can't find a way home."

"How did you get to the Digital World in the first place, without a digivice?"

"Fool's luck. Someone's sending emails to regular kids that have portals to the Digital World programmed into them. Either a prankster Digidestined who doesn't know how serious it is, or something more sinister trying to endanger the lives of ordinary kids." Amber looked unworried, however. "The Dinos can't follow me up here, though. They only sent a group of Agumon because I'm not a high priority, and their attacks fizzle before they reach me when it's this cold."

Sorcerymon was silent for a while, and she didn't elaborate any further. There really wasn't much else to say. Eventually, though, the Digimon broke the silence.

"Since you explained yourself… I should, too." He cleared his throat. "I, along with two of my colleagues, have been forced to enter a race to the peak of this mountain by our… higher employer."

"Er. Why?"

"We all proved incompetent." He lowered his voice, as if unsure of whether or not to continue, but forged ahead anyway. "…The winner gets to live."

Amber glanced at him. His eyes were fixed ahead, and betrayed none of his thoughts. She felt awful about the whole idea.

"Is there anything I can do to help?"

"I wish this to be as fair as possible – for my sake, if not for the others. Aiding me to rejoin the competition is enough. I must bid you farewell after tonight."

Neither of them spoke again for a long time.

Night draped itself over the Digital World. The mountain fell silent as the snow finally stopped falling for a brief interlude. Sorcerymon seemed intent upon continuing onwards, but Amber knew it was only a matter of time before exhaustion claimed him again… and she didn't know how much longer she could hold out, either.

Eventually, she convinced him to make camp for the night. The weary travellers worked together to build another 'fort', and Amber finally got some rest lying down for a change. She took off her bag and pulled out a huge white towel. It was thin, but better than sleeping right on the ice. The towel was just big enough to cover the entire floor of their ice cave, and each fell asleep at opposite sides of the floor after they'd piled up snow to block the wind coming in through the entrance.


	3. Wizardmon

Sorcerymon was gone. She'd expected this, to be honest. She hadn't known him for long, but he was obviously too arrogant to admit he wouldn't make it. Maybe she'd catch up later. Maybe she would stay here. The girl wasn't sure.

_I don't need to follow him, _she thought to herself. _He's obviously doing fine if he woke up before I did._

She pulled a bottle of mineral water out of her coat and took a long swig. Her stomach, woken by the intrusion of liquid, growled loudly at her. _On the other hand… he's worse off than I am._

"Ugh." She rolled up her towel and folded it over lengthways, stuffing it into her bag and pulling the drawstrings tightly shut. Amber then made her way out of the snow-fort, standing up and stretching stiffly in the crisp, freezing air. She glanced around, spotted tracks in the snow, and then disregarded them for a minute while she turned to face the cliff and craned her neck. She couldn't see the peak from here – the cliff wall was in the way – but she knew it couldn't be much further.

There was a noise from somewhere behind her. She tensed and whirled around in silence. There were sounds of chatter and laughter, crunching snow, and a loud yell as someone slipped over.

Amber recognised those voices. And she wasn't going to wait until one of them yelled 'Pepper Breath!'

She threw herself on top of the snow fort, collapsing it, and then stood up and ran as fast as she could round the corner of the cliff, panting heavily. If the Agumon caught up to her, she was toast. Even if their attacks didn't work long-range here, she was royally screwed if they got a chance to attack her close-up. Besides, they were stronger than her anyway, and she was no match for them even in melee combat.

Amber picked up the pace, willing herself to hurry up. The gradient was too steep. She couldn't keep up this speed for long. Hopefully, the Agumon wouldn't follow any faster, and she'd be able to relax after a while.

"Halt." A caped Digimon leapt down from a cliff edge somewhere above her. It wasn't Sorcerymon, but it looked a lot like him. This one wore a dark blueish black cloak and hat, and his eyes were a more solid shade of blue. "Who are you, and what is your business here?"

Amber stopped to catch her breath, falling to her knees to try and recover faster. "I… My name… is Amber," she gasped. "There's a group of Agumon just around the corner. Please let me past. If I get caught, I'll be destroyed. I can't fight."

"You could be lying."

"Then give it a minute and they'll be here," she snapped, and dodged past him to try and put some distance between herself and her pursuers. The Digimon grabbed her wrist as she tried to flee, and the sudden pull made her trip over into the snow.

"You're not going anywhere."

"Oh, don't tell me you're on their side!"

"If you're trying to reach the peak, forget it. This is between me, Witchmon and Sorcerymon."

A fireball sizzled through the snow between them. Amber suppressed a squeak of fright, and Wizardmon let go, taking on a fighting stance.

"Pepper Breath!" came a scratchy voice from just below them on the slope. "You're under arrest, Digidestined!"

"I've told you! I don't even have a digivice!"

Wizardmon gave her an apologetic look before turning back to the group of Agumon. "I'm sorry for doubting you, human. I am unfamiliar with the Digital World and its inhabitants."

"Now," Amber growled, "is not the time!" She scrambled to her feet and leapt behind her new ally.

"My name is Wizardmon. I command you to evacuate the mountain immediately, by order of Lord Wisemon."

"Who're you to tell us what to do!?"

"Hey, I bet he's that human's Digimon partner! Get him!"

Amber tensed, then turned to flee. Wizardmon narrowed his eyes and prepared for combat.

"Sorry to drag you into this, mate!" the girl called back. "They're a real pain!"

The yellow dinosaur-like Digimon stood no chance against Wizardmon. Amber didn't look back to find out what happened. All she could think of was escape… Anyhow, that Digimon seemed to be able to hold his own.

Amber ploughed on, hoping Wizardmon could deal with the Agumon and stop them from following her. Her thoughts began to wander, and she found herself wondering whether Sorcerymon was alright.

Who was she to care? He'd left of his own accord, and they didn't exactly know each other. Whether or not he'd make it to the peak first wasn't her problem. Plus if he was really against Wizardmon then she felt bad for hoping either one would come out on top. It was a life or death situation, according to Sorcerymon… and interfering would be bad.

Amber glanced up ahead as a bright glow caught her eye. A white shape up ahead reconfigured itself into a purple one.

"Sorcerymon?" she called. The Digimon slowed down to a halt and glanced over its shoulder.

"Impmon now," it replied. "I thought you would stay where you were. Apparently not." His green eyes narrowed and he turned back to the pathway around the mountain, which was becoming narrower by the metre.

"I just saw Wizardmon," the human sighed, jogging to catch up to Impmon. "And the Agumon chasing me. They almost caught up to me, but I think Wizardmon is going to send them packing. They're not very strong."

With a look of indifference, Impmon glanced at her and gave her a once-over. "Couldn't you have done that, then?"

Amber smiled thoughtfully. "If I could, I would have. A long time ago. As a rule, humans generally don't have special attacks to defend themselves with. That puts me at a disadvantage, really. That, and the fact that we can't absorb data to make ourselves stronger. We have to really work for it… and I just don't have the time, energy or willpower." She shrugged nonchalantly. "You're shivering, by the way. Want to borrow my coat?"

"No."

"Yeah, it's kind of long. I trip over it sometimes." She was perfectly aware that it wasn't how cumbersome the coat was, but rather Impmon's pride that made him reject her offer. Still, acting like she knew this would probably just annoy him.

"Why are you following me?" Impmon asked after a few minutes of silence. "You have nothing to gain by tagging along."

Amber thought about this for a while. "Hmm. Actually, I'm not sure. I'm just joyriding, I suppose. Sure, I have nothing to gain, but I've got nothing to lose, either. And nothing to do otherwise except avoid the Dinos."

"Sorry to disappoint you, but you being with me every step of the way is going to get me disqualified, and I'm sure I've told you what that means. You're not helping."

Amber looked uncomfortable. "Mm, but isn't there another way? Can't you just run away?"

"That's what got me into this in the first place. Running solves nothing. Lord Wisemon is one who can't be evaded."

Amber took a deep breath and let it out in a tired sigh. She watched the clouds from her breath whip away in the breeze, and tugged her coat's collar up a little, trying to shut out the cold.

"I don't know. What if you trained as you ran, so eventually you were powerful enough to stand up to this Wisemon guy?"

"Just drop it, okay?"

Amber pulled her bag off her back and swung it in front of her, rummaging through it as she walked. Eventually she pulled out a pale blue plastic box. It looked pretty thick and heavy. She flipped the handle over to the other side, making the lid unlock, and then opened it.

"Here." She held out a sandwich, and Impmon regarded it with a blank look for a moment. "Hope you like tuna."

There was a moment of silence, and then the Digimon took it with what could have been a hint of a smile. "…Thank you."

Amber picked out another sandwich for herself, then shut and re-locked the coolbox to bury it at the bottom of her bag again. "Not sure why I bothered bringing that box this time, to be honest. It's so cold here, the coolbox is probably warmer than we are." She chuckled lightheartedly and shut her bag, slinging it over her shoulder once more as she took a bite out of her sandwich. "I'm sorry for being in your way."

Impmon shook his head slowly, but said nothing.


	4. Digivice? What Digivice?

"Amber, turn around."

"What? Oh god, there's something behind me I don't want to see, isn't there?"

"It is the group of Agumon. I fear Wizardmon left them to continue. Wasting time with them would be too irrational for him."

Amber chewed the inside of her cheek and finally turned 180 degrees to face the yellow faces all growling at her angrily. One of the dinosaurs stepped forwards.

"Surrender the digivice and the human, and your life may be spared." The Agumon raised his claws in warning.

Impmon glanced up at Amber. She looked frightened. For the first time, he found himself thinking of her as a human child and not as a regular traveller. It was unnerving. Without thinking, he stepped in front of her and spread his arms. _What _was he doing?

"Go. I will hold them off."

"What? But you barely know me, and you're hurt!"

"Don't let them know that, you fool. Run!" He felt like his body was on autopilot while it waited for his mind to catch up.

The leader dinosaur Digimon snarled at him, flickers of flame curling around his teeth. "I suggest you get lost right now, before we have to come over there and do this the hard way."

Amber, meanwhile, was doing some serious thinking of her own. Sure, she'd helped _him_, but that didn't mean he had to do this. All she'd done was given him a sandwich, really, god damn what did he think he was doing? There was no way he'd fend off that many Digimon by himself. It was suicide.

"Thanks," she muttered, before shoving him aside so he fell into the snow sideways. She raised her voice, addressing the Agumon. "I'll give myself up quietly! No need to get all worked up over nothing. I did give you a run for your money, though, eh? Sorry about that. Look, just…" She put her hands on her head and walked forwards.

"What are you _doing__?_" Impmon hissed. She ignored him.

"…Just what?" the lead Agumon growled, narrowing its eyes suspiciously.

"Just cool it, I suppose. I'm not sure where I was going with that last sentence." She smiled grimly and stopped walking a few feet away from the leader. "Just… please check for a Digivice before you do anything rash. I was telling the truth." Something shifted in one of the inner pockets of her coat, like a small object had dropped into it from the inside, adding a sudden small weight. "I'm not Digidestined."

The Agumon seemed to consider this fair, and she took off her rucksack with one hand, dropping it to the ground in front of her. One of the lesser Agumon darted forwards to pick it up and tip its contents across the ground, scuffling through them quickly.

"Nothin' here, boss."

"Wait. What's that in her pocket?"

"Take off your coat, human."

Amber grimaced. It was freezing here… She begrudgingly peeled off the black, flowing coat and held it out at arm's length. The leader Agumon rifled through the pockets in it. Her water bottle fell to the ground, followed by her house key and a phone (which hadn't worked since she entered the Digital World for the first time… she needed a new one).

And then…

"Liar. What's this, then?" Agumon held up a small, oddly-shaped object with a strap on the top and a screen on the front. It had several buttons on it below the screen, and a cut-out line down one side.

"What…?"

"I'll tell you what it is," he snarled angrily. "It's a D-Power Digivice. That's what it is."

"Told you she was lying," another Agumon yelled.

Amber's arms dropped to her sides and she froze, head turning. Her eyes locked with Impmon's.

"I didn't…"

"Get her!"

"It wasn't… I didn't have…"

Amber staggered backwards and fell back onto the snow, quivering. Several things happened at once. The first was that the Digivice glowed faintly from where it was gripped in Agumon's claws, and emitted a high-pitched whine. He dropped it with a yelp.

The second was that a huge bank of snow dislodged itself from the cliff above the group, and came crashing down towards them.

The third was a familiar feeling of power that Impmon now found himself with… and an unfamiliar feeling of duty.

"Impmon, digivolve to…"

"Pepper Breath!"

"I'm sorry for dragging you into this…"

"Sorcerymon!"

"It missed! Where'd she-"

"Look out!"

Amber heard a loud crash of several tonnes of snow. Sounds like cracking glass. And then she fainted on the spot.

---

"Amber."

The voice was kind of echoey. Like she was hearing it speaking from behind some kind of altering device that made it painful to hear. She gritted her teeth and shifted slightly, but her whole body ached when she did this.

"Amber, wake up."

Ugh. Why did it have to hurt like this? What had happened? Someone stepped all over her in her sleep, or something?

"Please." The voice seemed to choke up for a moment. "I can't have done this for nothing."

"Nngh…" Amber felt herself slipping in and out of consciousness. Eventually, she settled for being awake. It would just make things worse if she fell asleep, she reasoned, and besides, she wanted to get up off this freezing cold ground. The girl groaned as she attempted to sit up without opening her eyes. The feeling made her head spin and she felt nauseous.

"Take it easy. I think you may have been in the cold for too long. You could be ill."

"I'm sure I'll recover…" she grated, grimacing at the fresh burst of stiffness. "Remind me never to go to sleep on snow again." She opened her eyes a little and winced at the brightness of the snow around her. Sorcerymon was sitting cross-legged beside her. He looked pretty worn-out. "You look like you've been through a combine harvester backwards. What happened to you?"

Amber glanced around for clues. There were none, but the Digimon now held out the D-Power to her, and she took it carefully.

"You didn't…?"

Sorcerymon looked away with a faint smile.

"You _did._ You took on all those Agumon by yourself."

"It wasn't the easiest thing I've ever done," he said in a subdued manner, and allowed himself to fall backwards into the snow, too exhausted to even sit upright. "I'm not sure why I did it at all."

"Well, you saved my life. I don't know what to say."

"You saved mine. Maybe I didn't want to admit it, not at first. But you did. If you hadn't come along when you did, I wouldn't be here at all."

"Even, then?"

"Even."

For a good ten minutes or so, neither of them spoke. They stayed where they were, just thinking.

"What are you going to do about the race?"

"Hm…? Oh… that. Doesn't matter. I'm coming with you."

"Wha… what? Why?"

Sorcerymon couldn't help but smirk under his collar, staring up at the ceiling of the ice barrier he'd managed to make at the last second, preventing the avalanche from hitting them.

"I think that maybe… we were meant to be partners."

"Wh-"

"And if we're not," he interjected hurriedly, "then it doesn't matter. I feel as though I should go with you regardless. Forgive me. I am used to being alone." He seemed unsure of himself all of a sudden, and sat up with some effort. "Perhaps… I am just overreacting to the kindness of a stranger."

"No. You're right." Amber managed to get to her feet. "We're friends now. And friends help each other out of trouble. Tell me, can this Wisemon person enter the human world?"

"I don't know."

"Well, I have a feeling we should find out. Come on." She held out a hand and he accepted her help as she tugged him firmly to his feet. "Did my stuff go everywhere?"

"It's over there."

"Well, then, let's go sort it out. I think we might need a bit more than a sandwich if we're going to be looking for a gate back to my world."


End file.
